Bees Wax Wraps

There has been a lot of attention on ways to reduce plastic use everywhere; including in the home. Storing food in plastic seems like a great place to rethink plastic use. Beeswax wrap covers are getting a lot of promotion as a solution to food storage and I decided it was time to give them a try.

This is a natural exploration/solution as;

  1. We have lots of beeswax
  2. Clothing is one of the biggest waste streams in the US
  3. How hard is it to cut up some fabric and add bees wax?

So off to the Goodwill to select some appealing all-cotton textiles that could be cut down in various sizes for the wraps. The men’s section offered the best selection for XL sizes (more cloth), all cotton, and no “Pink Tax”. If you are not familiar with the term, generally any women’s clothing will automatically be more expensive than a similar item in the men’s department. Sadly, it is no different at the Goodwill.

Pillow cases for wax wrap
Pillow cases freshly washed and ready for cutting

All cotton pillow cases proved to be another good source for lots of fabric for a few dollars, and, there were some prints that worked well with the checkered shirt. All in all – 2 pillow cases for $3.99 and one shirt for $4.99 – about $9 for several yards of all cotton fabric. Not bad given that most all-cotton fabric with interesting prints is about $8.99 a yard at a minimum these days.

The next step was deciding what sizes would be most useful as wraps and to plan out the maximum number of wraps from the short sleeved shirt and the pillowcases. I ended up with about 15 wraps of various sizes and proportions. Although a large wrap would have been nice for a loaf of bread – the oven sheet pans turned out to be the final limit on maximum wrap size.

Bees wax wraps
Pinking shears are best for cutting a no-fray edge

An aggressive internet search for an exact recipe for the wax wraps proved to be frustrating. The basic concept is that grated bees wax and an oil are added together and melted in the oven at the lowest temperature. Bees wax is flammable and an over hot oven could be a disaster so keep it cool.

The instructions I followed were way too oily and the wraps did not stick to vessels very well. No problem – the fabric wraps were reheated with more wax to make a better consistency. Further research showed that some recipes added pine pitch to the mix to make a crisper seal, but no specific ratios were found online. This is an experiment I mean to revisit soon adding pitch to the mix.

One recipe said to use a cheese grater to grate the beeswax if using a non-pelleted wax. Well, this was way too much labor and overworked the old hands. A double boiler was used to melt big chunks of wax and to mix with the coconut oil.

Wax Wraps steps
Pre-melting the wax proved to be more efficient than grating

Using a utility paint brush, the melted wax/oil wax was smoothed across the fabric on a cookie sheet lined with a paper baking sheet. It was not necessary to cover every edge of the fabric as the heat of the oven melted and saturated the wax/oil quite thoroughly. The fabric was stacked in several layers with wax applied to each wrap.

Hot wax wrap
Stacked wax wraps before heating in the oven on a low setting. Note brush marks and lumpy drips in top right of the photo.

When the saturation looked good in the oven each wrap was lifted out to separate and then hung on the line to cool. The wraps cool fairly quickly just from taking out of the oven. If there were any lumps from cooling too quickly, they got another turn in the oven.

Wax Wraps
Waxed wraps cooling on the line. The pocket from the shirt proved fun when wrapping a sandwich to stuff extra treats in.

So, overall this was a good project but the recipe I used needs more work and is not good enough to endorse and pass on. The consistency of the wax/oil would not stick to itself or a vessel and left a residue on steel and glass. We ended up using a produce rubber band or string to hold shut for traveling sandwiches. This wrap was a great solution for cheese as it kept it from drying out and the antibiotic nature of the wax seemed to minimize mold formation (except on wet mozzarella). A warm rinse after use kept the wraps clean enough for our needs.

A next generation experiment will incorporate the pitch and use a food grade walnut oil (it does not go rancid). Perhaps a solid proven recipe will be posted to the website soon.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Bees in the Garden

This spring was lovely and there were a few good swarms that I was able to video in action. Below is what may have been a mating and supercedure. The bees flew out of the hive, swirled about for a few minutes, then headed back into the hive. No flying over the fence or climbing trees required.

https://www.facebook.com/100014879046746/videos/376223959550236/

Musings on Becoming a Beekeeper

Native and honey bees are a wonderful addition to any garden. And as a social insect, they are fascinating to study. But not everyone is ready to be a honeybee keeper. If you would like to support bees in your garden—but not ready to box up a living swarm—look over the links and information on Planting for Pollinators.

Do a little reading first. So many get captured by the concept but do little to educate themselves about the reality of keeping bees. Tending bees is work and there is a big difference between being a beekeeper and a bee “haver.” Are you willing to be responsible for collecting the swarms from your hive—even if they go over the neighbor’s fence or up in a tall tree?

If you are ready to jump right in… plunge ahead! But I will mention that a little mentoring up front can save you a lot of heart ache in the long run. If you have a fab location with lots of forage, perhaps encouraging a beekeeper to park a few hives on the property for a year would bring the responsibility of stewardship into sharper focus. Joining a beekeepers group is a fine way to listen to discussions and gain insights into fostering bees in a backyard.

A bee swarm moves into a hive
A newly collected swarm moves into its prepared top bar hive

Bee links

Monterey Bay Beekeepers
www.montereybaybeekeepers.org
Meets first Saturday of the month for news, presentations, comaraderie, and discussion. Visit the site for more information.

UC Davis Entomology Department
Incredible resource for much of the current research on colony collapse and information on bee health. Harry H. Laidlaw Bee Research Facility. UC Davis has a very good pollinator garden that you can visit also — the Haagen Dazs Honey Bee Haven.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save